


Bucky Barnes' Day Off

by liionne



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crack tbh, Ferris Bueller's Day Off AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-06
Updated: 2016-04-06
Packaged: 2018-05-31 17:39:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6480235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liionne/pseuds/liionne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky Barnes wakes up, looks outside, and huffs. It's a beautiful spring day. Blue skies, birds chirping. Why, oh why, should he have to spend such a glorious day inside, learning about history? </p><p>He shouldn't, thank you very much. Days like these need to be experienced.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bucky Barnes' Day Off

**Author's Note:**

> Work beta'd by the amazing monkeyduels, even without internet and whilst travelling!? Amazing, in all honesty. I am eternally grateful.
> 
> This work, whilst obviously based off of and inspired by the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off (amazing if you haven't seen it. apparently this year is the 30th anniversary), but honestly this fic was actually more influenced by this fic ["Bahorel's Day Off"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/706517), by [steelplatedhearts](http://archiveofourown.org/users/steelplatedhearts/pseuds/steelplatedhearts). I read it a while ago now and it has honestly stuck with me ever since. If your a Les Mis fan I would seriously recommend it!

Bucky Barnes wakes up, looks outside, and huffs. It's a beautiful spring day. Blue skies, birds chirping. Why, oh why, should he have to spend such a glorious day inside, learning about history? 

He shouldn't, thank you very much. Days like these need to be experienced. 

So he goes in for the usual: he suns his face in his heat lamp for a little while, clambers into bed, licks his palms, and begins to groan. This attracts Winifred Barnes, his mother, who presses her palm to his forehead and gasps, and calls for George. 

"He's burning up!" She reports back to Bucky's father. "We can't send him to school like this." 

"But-- but I want to..." Bucky wheezes. "I have a test..." 

"Such a good student." George sighs. Behind him, in the hallway, Rebecca Barnes rolls her eyes. She's seen this routine before. "You can't go to school like this, son. You need rest." 

"But-- but my education," Bucky coughs. "My future, mom--" 

"Your future is going to be just fine, honey. Don't you worry about that." She says, petting his hair gently. She kisses his burning forehead, and pulls away. "Your father and I'll call you to check in, alright?" 

"A-alright." He nods, as the two of them move to leave the room. "Becca!" He croaks. "Will you pick up my homework for me?" 

She rolls her eyes again, and flips him off, heading downstairs without a word.  

Bucky waits until he has heard the voices fade, the front door close, and two cars drive away. He gives it a minute, two just to be sure, and then he sits up. 

He needs to get out. He can't spend all day lounging around in bed; though preferable to school, it would be a wasted sick day, when this is really the last sick day that he can take this semester. 

So he gets out of bed, and he grabs the phone. 

He needs transport. And for that, he needs Wanda. 

~*~ 

 

"Wanda, sweetie, what's up?" 

"I'm dying, didn't you hear?"  

"I'm sure that's not true." He says. 

"It is." Wanda moans, and she seems to sigh. Bucky waits, not wanting to interrupt. "I'm dying, James. Dying. I've written my will and everything." 

"I thought you already had a will?" Bucky asks. 

"I did." Wanda agrees. "I wrote a new one. You're included, don't worry." 

"I won't." Bucky nods, though Wanda can't see him. "Look- I have a proposition for you." 

"Oh?" Wanda asks. "Count me out of it. I'm _sick_ , I told you. I need bed rest. And soup." 

"We can get soup while we're out, and it's going to be incredibly relaxing." Bucky assures her. "It'll be like bed rest, but outside. Think of all the vitamins you'll be getting!" 

"Vitamins." Wanda echoes. She pauses, and Bucky waits. "No." 

 "Wanda!" Bucky sighs, leaning against the doorframe. "Wanda, c'mon--" 

"I told you. I'm dying." 

"Technically, we're all dying." 

"That's not the point." Wanda says. 

Bucky rolls his eyes. "Wanda, if you _are_ dying, wouldn't you like to go out with a bang? Wouldn't you like to make your last days something fun? Something to remember?" 

There's a sigh on the other end of the line. "Fine. I'll be over in ten." 

 

~*~ 

 

"Mrs. Barnes, do you know that your son has been off school for _nine_ days this semester? _Nine_?" 

Winifred laughs, still working as she speaks to Principle Pierce. "That can't be right. I know he hasn't been sick that often, sir." 

"He wasn't sick." Pierce agrees. "He was skipping school." 

Winifred almost snorts. She doesn't, though. She has some decorum. "My son would never do that." 

"Then you evidently don't know your son." Pierce says. 

"Excuse _you_ , sir, but I _know_ my own son." Winifred says, hackles raising. "He is sick today, with my authorization, and that's the end of it." 

She puts the phone down, and Pierce sighs. He looks back at his screen, and squints. What was one a 9 is now a 2.  

Odd. Very odd. 

 

~*~ 

 

"All you have to do is put on a fake voice, and tell them that his grandma's died, and that you need to come and pick him up." 

"And you think they're going to buy that?" 

"Rumlow? He's gonna buy that. Guy's thick as shit." Bucky nods at the phone, looking up from his laptop. God, the school system was _so_ easy to hack. "Go on." 

Wanda gives a heavy sigh, and dials the school's number, waiting as it rings. When the phone is picked up by school secretary Mister Rumlow, she makes sure to put on her best Grown Up voice, with a hint of Brooklyn accent. 

"Mister Rumlow, this is Mrs. Rogers. I need to come and pick my son up _immediately_. There's been a death in the family." She says, and she even goes as far as to make her words falter, breath hitching. Wanda may think she's dying, but Bucky just thinks she's badass. "I'm leaving now. I'd like you to deliver the news to him gently." 

Principle Pierce passes the desk, and frowns. "Who's that?" He mouths. 

Rumlow pulls the phone away from his ear. "Mrs. Rogers. Says there's been a death in the family, needs to come and pick her son up." He puts the phone back to his ear. 

"Mrs. Rogers? Steve Rogers' mother?" Principle Pierce asks, grey eyebrows knitting together. "Isn't he known for hanging around with Barnes?" 

"Dating, sir." Rumlow says, and ignores the way Pierce grimaces.  

"There's no way Rogers' grandma has died the same day Barnes is off sick. That's gotta be Barnes." Pierce says, reaching out. "Give me the phone." 

Rumlow rolls his eyes, and nods. "Hold on, Mrs. Rogers. Principle Pierce would like to speak to you." 

 

~*~ 

 

"Pierce wants to speak to me!" Wanda hisses, pulling the phone away from her ear.  

Bucky scowls, reaching for the other phone. He has a plan. "Act natural." he says. "I have a plan." 

  


~*~ 

 

"Mrs. Rogers?" Pierce asks, putting the phone to his ear.  

"Principle Pierce." _Mrs. Rogers_ says. "I need to come and collect my son Steve at once. It's non-negotiable. His grandma has so sadly passed away," She sniffles, and Pierce sneers.    


"Grandma died, huh?" Pierce asks. "Well, new school policy states, _Mrs. Rogers_ , that if you want to take your child out of school for a death in the family, you've got to bring the corpse with you!" 

  


~*~ 

 

Bucky dials the school's number, and puts on his best croaky voice. When Rumlow answers the phone with his usual monotone greeting, Bucky says, "Hello, Mr. Rumlow, it's Bucky Barnes. Can I speak to Principle Pierce?" 

 

~*~ 

 

Rumlow, who had been snickering up until the phone had rang, gave Pierce a panicked look. 

"Sir." he says, as Pierce continues to rant down the phone. "Sir--" 

"And make sure you bring her passport with you! Can't have you bringing any old dead body in here--" 

"Sir!" Rumlow hissed, a little less quietly, until Pierce was forced to pull the phone away from his ear and snap, "what!?" 

"Sir, I have Bucky Barnes on line 2."  

The colour drains from Pierce's wrinkled face, and he swallows thickly. "Mrs. Rogers, I am very, very sorry." 

 

~*~ 

 

"I should think so too!" Wanda yells, still keeping that Grown Up voice. "Speaking to me like that! Speaking ill of the _dead_ like that! It's an outrage, sir! An outrage! I want Steve outside of the school in twenty minutes, and I don't want to have to speak to you ever again!" 

Bucky grins, leaning back against the kitchen counter. 

"Good day!" Wanda says, and slams the phone down. She takes a deep breath, and reaches for the mug of hot lemon. "I hope you know my throat is worse now." 

"It'll be worth it." Bucky promises. "Now come on - we have to get back to your place." 

"My place?" Wanda frowns. "What about Steve?" 

"Well, we're gonna pick Steve up." He nods. "But we can't take the bus, can we? That'll look suspect. We need a car. A _nice_ car. A car that Steve's wonderful mother would drive. Y'know. Like the 1961 Ferrari sitting in your garage." 

Wanda narrows her eyes. " _No_." 

 

~*~ 

 

The door opens in Psych class, and the school nurse, Nurse Walters, pushes into the room. She's a pretty mousy woman, but Steve knows what her presence means, because the seat beside him is empty, and he just got a text reading: PLAN IS A GO. GRANDMA DEAD. ETA 20 MIN. 

Nurse Walters speaks to the teacher, who asks for Steve. Steve pretends to look shocked, confused, gathers his things and moves down to the door, where Nurse Walters puts an arm around his bony shoulders. 

"Steve, honey, I hate to be the bearer of bad news..." She says, out in the hallway. "But your grandma has unfortunately passed away. I'm so sorry." 

Steve summons up tears, breath catching, hand covering his mouth. "Oh my god--" 

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart." Nurse Walters says again. "Your mother is on her way." 

Steve nods, and is led to the front of the building by Nurse Walters, trying very hard not to smirk. 

 

~*~ 

 

"No." Wanda says again, as they stand in front of the car. "Do you know what Pietro would do if anything happened to his car? He saved for years to buy this car. He used half of his inheritance to buy this car. This car is his life. He loves it more than he loves _me_." Wanda stresses. "We aren't taking it." 

"I'm taking it." Bucky grins, hopping into the front seat, keys in hand. Wanda stands in front of the car, foot tapping, arms crossed. 

"Look." Bucky sighs. "You can come with me and Steve, make sure nothing happens to the car, or you can stay here and leave it with me. Your choice." 

Wanda grimaces, and then she gets into the car. "Fine." She sighs. "But I'm driving, so scoot over." 

 

~*~ 

 

Ten minutes later, a few minutes earlier than planned, the red Ferrari pulls up outside the school. Nurse Walters pats Steve on the shoulder, and "Mrs. Rogers", her hood over her head, scarf covering her mouth, like something out of a 1950s movie, beckons for him. 

From his office, Pierce watches through the window. 

"I hope she doesn't sue." he sighs. 

Rumlow shrugs. "Might liven things up." 

Pierce glares at him, and watches as Steve gets into the car, hugs his mother, and they drive off. 

 

~*~ 

 

Once out of sight of the school, Bucky pops up from under the blanket he was hiding beneath on the back seat. "Hey babe." He grins. 

Steve turns around in his seat, and pecks Bucky's lips with his own. "Sick day again, huh? Y'know you take more of these than I do." 

"That's untrue." Bucky says. "And anyway, with you being sick a lot, and me being stuck in that fluorescent lit nightmare, we don't get enough time to enjoy nice days like these ones." 

"You two are unbelievable." Wanda sighs, as Steve grins. 

"Dead grandma, though? Really?" 

 

~*~ 

 

Clint shoves a can in Rebecca's face. "Would you like to donate to help save Bucky?" 

"What?" She asks, leaning against the wall with a sigh. 

Clint lowers the can, and says, "We're raising money to help Bucky. Apparently he needs a new liver, and surgeries like that are so expensive--" 

"He doesn't need a new liver." She scoffs. "He isn't even sick!" 

"And how would you know that?" Clint frowns. "When did you get your M.D?" 

"Piss off, twerp." Rebecca sighs, pulling her phone from her pocket. 

"So you're not gonna donate to save Bucky?" Clint asks, and he sighs when Rebecca flips him off, not looking up from the screen of her smartphone. 

 

~*~ 

 

"No way." Wanda shakes her head, red-brown hair falling off her shoulders in waves. "No way are we leaving the car _here_. It isn't _safe._ " 

"Of course it's safe!" Bucky argues. Steve, behind him, chews his lip. He doesn't look convinced, but he'd be willing to give it a shot. "These people are professionals." Bucky adds. 

"We're professionals." One of the attendants nods. 

Wanda squints at the two guys in greasy overalls, both bald, with very questionable moustaches. "I think that's debatable." 

"Wanda." Bucky says, grabbing her (albeit gently) by her upper arms. "The car is safer here. If we left it on the street anyone could walk by, and steal it, or dent it, or run their key along it. Trust me. It'll be fine!" 

"Gee, I wonder where I've heard that before." She grumbles, handing over the keys. 

 

~*~ 

 

"This just isn't right." Pierce growls, pacing his office. The door is open, and in the small room on the other side of it, Rumlow rolls his eyes. "Get me Roger's home number." 

Rumlow pulls up the phone number, which Pierce calls. There's no answer. 

"Get me Mrs. Rogers' cell."  

Pierce calls. It goes straight to voicemail. "Fuck!" 

 

~*~ 

 

"Look at this view. Wanda, are you seeing this view? You aren't even looking."  

"Heights frighten me." She says, leaning back and pointedly not looking at the view from the top of the Empire State Building. "This place will be the death of me. From nerves. From tourists--" She looks at the people around them. "Or both." 

Steve rolls his eyes, and points to a spot on the horizon. "I reckon that's my house. Is that my house?" 

"I think that's your house, babe." Bucky nods, grinning a little. 

"I may well die of starvation." Wanda sighs, looking at her nails. She tries to remember how long it takes someone to die of starvation, but she can't.  

Steve and Bucky look over their shoulders at her, and Bucky nods. "Alright. If you're hungry, then lets go eat. I know a lovely little place." 

 

~*~ 

 

The restaurant is fancy. _Very_  fancy. Bucky knows this, as does Steve, and Wanda. Wanda tuts. "How are we gonna get a table in here? How are we gonna _afford_  a table in here?" 

"Simple." Bucky says. "We're gonna do as I say." 

Bucky heads in, confident. He read once that confident people get away with more, and he lives his life to that fact. The maitre d' is waiting at the small podium in front of the main restaurant, so Steve pulls out his phone, and gives it a call. The maitre d' is pulled away from the podium to answer the phone, so Bucky ducks in to have a look at the reservation list. Tony Stark, table for 3, at 12:30. Perfect. 

The maitre d' returns, and sneers a little. Poncy asshole, Bucky thinks, but he just gives that calm, collected smile, confident in every move, and says, "Table for 3. Tony Stark." 

The maitre d' arches his eyebrows. " _You_  are Tony Stark? The Shawarma King of New York?" 

Bucky doesn't bat an eyelid. "Yes." 

"You." The maitre d' repeats. "You, are Tony Stark?" 

"Indeed." Bucky nods, and leans forward a little, hands behind his back. "The Shawarma King of New York." 

"If you're Tony Stark, then I'm the President." The man sneers again, tilting his chin in the air, and Steve steps forward. 

"How dare you-- do you have any idea who you're speaking to? Honestly! This man is a multimillionaire! A self employed genius! He has made more money from his family recipe than you could ever hope to rake in at the place, and all he wants right now is to eat his lunch!" Steve's voice raises higher, and people begin to look. Causing a scene; nice. "So either seat us, or we'll be forced to take our business elsewhere, and you can be sure that we'll be telling our friends to do the same!" 

The maitre d' looks a little pink. He nods, and gathers up three menus. "Of course. Right this way, please." 

 

~*~ 

 

Tony Stark's table is actually pretty nice. Seated between the window and the exit, with a lovely view of the patio and garden outside. They sip red wine, and Bucky grins. 

"You did great, babe." 

"I know." Steve nods. "But thank you." 

Wanda shakes her head. "And what happens if the real Tony Stark comes in here, huh? What then?" 

"Then he'll be turned away for being a fraud." Bucky shrugs. "because I'm Tony Stark. The Shawarma King of New York." 

He smirks wide, and orders the steak. It's not like he plans on paying for it. 

 

~*~ 

 

"Cancel all my appointments, and make a note of my calls. I'm going out. I need to get to the bottom of this." Pierce says. 

Rumlow doesn't even look up from his magazine. "Sure." 

 

~*~ 

 

"Why the fuck should he get to swan around and do whatever he wants all day?" Rebecca says down the phone to her long-distance "girlfriend", Susan. "He's not even sick! He's  _never_  sick." 

"The eldest kids always get it better." Susan says, and Rebecca scoffs. "You're telling me." 

She pauses, and she looks around the empty bathroom. "Y'know what? Fuck this." She says. "I'll call you later, Susie."  

And with that she puts her phone in her pocket, throws her bag out of the window, and wriggles out after it. If Bucky can do whatever he wants, then so can she. 

 

~*~ 

 

"What is your _dad_ doing here?!" Wanda hisses. 

The three of them are stood at the front door of the restaurant. They had been aiming for a quick, seamless escape, out of the restaurant and into a cab, but now this. This, Bucky's father, chatting and laughing with a few of his friends from work. 

Well. Bucky did hear about this place from his dad. 

"I don't know. Eating, maybe." Bucky says, running a hand through his hair. He carefully scrapes it back into a bun (the kind that makes Steve look at him with that crooked smirk that means he's thinking naughty things), and he grips the railing. "Confidence. My dad isn't expecting to see us, so he isn't going to be _looking_  for us. He probably won't even recognise us." 

"Or he does, and we get busted." Steve says. 

"That's not gonna happen, babe." Bucky says, sure of himself. When his father and their friends go to get in a cab, he heads down the stone steps, and he gestures for the two of them to follow.  

There's a cab waiting, and they're getting into it, no matter what. Bucky ushers Wanda and Steve in first, and then with one last glance at his dad's back, he slips in beside his boyfriend. As the cab pulls away, another comes to take its place, and Bucky watches as his father completely misses him. 

 

~*~ 

 

Pierce has been to everywhere he can think of that that little asshole might be at. The local pizza place, the mall, the park-- nothing. 

So he's going to that little bastard's house. Because if he isn't in any of these places, and he isn't at school, then he has to be at home, right? Pierce is a smart man. He knows that. And this feels very right. 

He looks in through the window, but he sees nothing. No one. When he presses the doorbell, there's a recorded message of Barnes' voice - it has to be recorded. It can't be real. So he heads around the back, stomping through the garden-- 

and he loses his shoe in what appears to be a small bog. 

"Fuck." he snaps, tugging at his shoe, but it won't come out. He slips, falling flat in the mud, and he scowls. He scrambles to his feet, and he walks (with one shoe) to the back door.  

He turns the handle, but it doesn't budge. He sighs, continually tugging, until he hears a growling behind him. 

He turns, to find a big, shaggy, pointy-toothed dog behind him. 

He gulps. This is bad. 

 

~*~ 

 

" _What_!?" Steve cries, standing up and throwing his hands out wide. "What are you _doing_!? How did you miss that!?" 

"Isn't this fun, Wanda? Watching Stevie get mad over sports?" Bucky says to Wanda, who shoves a piece of popcorn into her mouth and grimaces. Sport is not her thing. Nothing is her thing; her lipstick is black, that should be indicator enough, Bucky thinks. 

"I could do better than that! _Shit_!" Steve curses, throwing his hands up as he watches the game unfold. 

"You promised me this day would be relaxing." Wanda pointed out. "So far it has been very, _very_  stressful. Turning my brother's car over to those two _fiends_ , dining and dashing, nearly getting caught by several different adults - and for what? I haven't seen anything good all day." 

"Unbelievable!" Steve hollers at the players, who most likely cannot hear him. 

Bucky arches his eyebrows. "Nothing good? We went to the Empire State Building. And the met. And we ate stupidly fancy food _for free_. And now we're at a baseball game!" Wanda grimaces, and Bucky sighs. "Alright..." He grins, and he nods. "I know _exactly_  what I want to show you." 

 

~*~ 

 

Rebecca throws her bag down by the coat rack in the hall, and kicks off her boots. Bucky's boots are gone - big fucking surprise. She rolls her eyes; she knows fine well that if she goes up to his room right now, he won't be in there. What a fucking liar. 

She pulls her phone out of her pocket, about to text Carol, when she hears a crash from the kitchen. The dog barks loudly from the back yard, and someone curses; a man. There's a man in her kitchen. 

She grabs Bucky's baseball bat from where it stands in the corner of the hallway, and raises it in protection. She inches forward. The guy is wearing a mud-covered shirt and weird looking pants, and he only has one shoe. 

A _homeless guy_  is inside her _house_. 

She screams, and she thwacks him as best she can with the baseball bat; she doesn't manage anything major, unfortunately. Just a good smack in the balls. She drops the bat and runs, skittering up the stairs where she locks herself in her room. She never thought she'd need the emergency keypad on her phone, but she silently thanks Steve Jobs as she calls 911. 

"There's a man in my house!" 

 

~*~ 

 

The parade is big. Surprisingly big, for what is really just...  

"What is it for again?" Steve asks, looking up at Bucky, who his his arm around him, hand settled on his hip. 

Bucky shrugs. "That new department store that's opening, I think. See how it's all major brands?" 

Steve nods, and all three watch as a Budweiser float drives past them. 

"Just seems irresponsible." Wanda mutters under her breath.  

"Sure does." Bucky agrees. "Wait here a sec." 

He pecks Steve's cheek, and then he disappears off into the crowd. 

"He-- did he just _leave us_!?" Wanda cries. SHe throws up her hands. "This is-- agh!" 

"C'mon, Wanda," Steve says, scurrying after her when she begins to walk away. "C'mon, he'll be right back. He said to wait there." 

"And you know that, huh? He's _Bucky_. He'll get himself into another adventure and he'll be off." She says, still walking, albeit slowly. "He could've gone back to school!" 

"Not after he went to so much trouble to get all three of us out of it." Steve says. He reaches for Wanda's hand, and Wanda stops. "C'mon, Wanda." 

"It's just--" She shakes her head, and folds her arms over her chest, ignoring Steve's attempt at contact. "He has everything figured out, doesn't he? He knows what he's doing and where he's going and it all works out _just fine_  for him. He's unstoppable. He can handle anything. I can barely handle a cold." 

Steve steps forward, and wraps his arms around her. She drops her head down onto his shoulder, what with the considerable height difference (damn those chunky 90s heels), and sighs. 

"He doesn't have everything figured out." Steve says. "What're you gonna do after high school?" He asks. 

"College." She says. "Psychology. I wanna be a psychologist. Work with kids, maybe. I'd kinda like to go back to Russia, too." 

"Uh huh." Steve nods. "See, Bucky doesn't even know what he'll do after we graduate, let alone what he wants to be when he's grown up." Wanda snickers, and Steve smiles, triumphant. "He isn't always the big shot he makes out he is." Steve concludes. 

Wanda sighs, and lifts her head, nodding. "You're right." She says. "Steve--" 

"I'd like to dedicate this next song to a very special friend of mine, who doesn't think she's seen anything good today." A voice says, blasting through the speakers on each of the floats. An ACME Kitchenette float drives by slowly, and both Steve and Wanda's eyes widen.  

"Is that--?" Steve begins, and Wanda blinks. "That son of a bitch." 

The introduction to Redbone's _Come and Get Your Love_  begins to play, and a group of scantily clad French maids move out to reveal Bucky, on the float, microphone in hand as he mimes along to the words. 

"I can't believe it." Wanda says. She and Steve stagger to the front of the crowd, waving, yelling at hime to "get down Bucky, or I swear to god!" before they're ushered back by a policeman. Bucky gives them a grin, and a wink, and he keeps going. 

 

~*~ 

  


Pierce staggers out of the front door, groaning. He's one shoe down, he has no idea where half his possessions are, and his balls hurt. A lot. 

He could have been anything, honestly. Could have been a prison warden. Could have worked in airport security. SWAT team. Bomb Disposal Unit.  

Anything less stressful than being a principal. 

 

~*~ 

 

"That was so dumb. Anyone could have seen us! We were probably on TV! If my brother saw that--" Wanda says, but Bucky can see the grin at the corner of her lips. She's not mad really. 

Steve, tucked under Bucky's arm, can't help but laugh. "It was so dumb." He agrees, leaning into Bucky's side. 

They collect the car keys, the two guys behind the counter looking oddly happy; Bucky can't imagine that working in a parking garage is very fulfilling work. 

They hop into the beautiful red ferarri, which is, of course, unharmed, and Bucky smile=0.s smugly. He clambers into the drivers seat (after holding Steve's door open for him, of course), and waits for Wanda to get settled in the back. "See? Not a scratch on it!" 

"Alright, fine." Wanda sighs. "You were right. Big whoop." 

Bucky grins, putting the keys in the ignition. As he leans in, his eyes are drawn to the mileage, and he gulps. Shit. 

"Wanda. What were the miles on this thing when we left it?" He asks slowly. 

"156.4." Wanda says, without pause. she knows that number of by heart, because _Pietro_  knows that number off by heart. "Why?" 

Bucky clears his throat, and gestures to the little numbers on the dashboard. Wanda leans over his seat to look. 321.5. She leans back again, and says nothing. 

And stays silent. Staring into space. 

"Wanda?" Steve says slowly, looking at Bucky before he looks back at her. "Wanda?" He tries again. She doesn't reply. "Buck--" Steve turns to look at Bucky, a little panicked. "What do we do? Is she okay?" 

"She's going to be fine." Bucky says, putting the car into drive and heading away from the centre of town. "We just need to fix this." 

 

~*~ 

 

"You understand that wasting police time is a serious offence, don't you?" 

Rebecca rolls her eyes, and leans back in the shitty plastic chair. Arrested. Arrested because her attacker, the burglar, got away. 

"Shouldn't you be out looking for real criminals?" She sighs. 

The police offer frowns. "We've called your mother. She's on her way; we'll be letting you off with a _warning_  this time, miss." 

"Wonderful." She sighs, watching the officer go back to his desk. 

"So what're you in here for?" Someone asks, and Rebecca just about launches out of her seat with shock. She glares at the guy, who continues, "Drugs? Prostitution?" 

"What does it look like?" She snaps, folding her arms across his chest. 

"Drugs _and_  prostitution." The guy grins, almost feral looking, and he holds his hand out. "Loki. And you are?" 

"Creeped out." Rebecca answers, trying to scoot her seat to face in the other direction. 

 

~*~ 

 

They place a catatonic Wanda on a deck chair by the side of a pool. They don't know whose pool it is. Bucky just saw one, saw that the house was empty, and decided the three of them might as well rest there for a moment, seeing as it was still too early to go back to anyone's house. 

Steve sits by the edge of the pool, with Bucky, who has his legs dangling in the nice cool water.  

"Is she going to be okay?" Steve whispers. "What are we gonna do about the car?" 

"She's going to be fine." Bucky nods, even though Wanda has now been silent for about forty-five minutes, and even Bucky is a little worried. "And I'm going to fix the car. We're all gonna fix the car. It's gonna be just _fine_." 

"Is it?" Wanda says, causing Steve to jump. He and Bucky turn around to look at her, but she's still looking at the water in front of her. "Is it going to be fine, Bucky? I'm not _you_. I can't just snap my fingers and have everything be all nice and amazing. My life has consequences. My life has consequences just like this car, going over _one hundred miles_  in a day has consequences. Five or ten miles Pietro would've written off as bad memory, but this--" 

"We're going to fix it." Bucky says. "We--" 

"We! _We_. _You_ , Bucky. You mean you." Wanda says, finally looking at him. "This whole day has been about you. Hasn't it?" 

Steve is silent. He looks at Bucky, who sighs. "I didn't want it to be. I wanted it to be about all of us." 

"What?" Wanda sighs, her gaze withering. 

"I wanted--" Bucky sighs. "Steve is going to that art school in Chicago in the fall. You'll be going back to Russia. Natasha got into that forensic science course in Philly, and Clint's going backpacking for a year. I just wanted us to be together for a day, I guess." 

Steve reaches out, and silently takes Bucky's hand. Wanda sighs softly, and leans forward. "And what're you gonna do?" 

Bucky scratches the back of his neck. "Military, I think." 

"Huh." Wanda murmurs. "Family tradition?" 

Bucky nods. He stands. "Come on." He says. "We gotta get your car fixed." 

Wanda and Steve look at each other for a moment, before looking to Bucky, both of them unsure of what to say. In the end, they stand, and they follow him to the car. Better not to question it, maybe. 

 

~*~ 

 

Winifred Barnes has been practising the speech she's going to give her daughter when she sees her. Her daughter. Arrested! And she thought Rebecca was a good young lady. She isn't looking forward to telling George about this at all. She only hopes that Rebecca didn't wake Bucky up with all this nonsense... 

When she gets to the station, she looks over to the small row of chairs up against the wall. There's a woman in a bra and a pair of booty shorts, a man with a shaved head and a cigarette in hand, and her daughter, making out with a man of a similar age, with jet black hair. 

"Rebecca!" Winifred all but cries, reaching out to grab her daughter by the arm and drag her away, her cheeks pink with rage and embarrassment. 

 

~*~ 

 

They've tried everything they could think of. Nothing has worked, so far. Driving in reverse was their best idea, the car carefully propped up, where it couldn't drive backwards and smash through Wanda's house. 

"I could just take it apart, turn it by hand." Bucky says, chewing his bottom lip. "I'm good with mechanical shit, y'know?" 

"No." Wanda says. She shakes her head. She taps Bucky's shoulder to get him to lay off the accelerator, and she circles the car slowly. "No, leave it. This car is the bane of my existence. I could've been having a really nice day today. Could have had a nice time at the top of the Empire State Building, enjoyed a nice baseball game." 

"It wasn't that good." Steve murmurs. "Yankees lost." 

"Not the point." Wanda says. "This stupid car has ruined my entire day. My entire life, for the past few years. Y'know how close Pietro and I used to be? We used to be joined at the hip. Now he could run me over in this car and he'd check on the car first." 

She pauses, and then she begins to kick the crap out of the back of the car. She really goes for it. Bucky, worried for his own safety, hops out and stands by Steve, draping an arm around his shoulders. Wanda spends a good five minutes kicking the car with her chunky heels, until eventually she stops, and she sighs. 

There's a pretty massive dent in the back. Bucky and Steve move around to look at it, and Bucky whistles. 

"Shit." Steve murmurs. 

"Yeah." Wanda agrees. 

Bucky rubs the back of his neck. "I'll take the heat for all this, Wanda. Tell Pietro that I stole it and everything, I don't mind--" 

"Nope." Wanda shakes her head. "No, I did this. All of it. I'm gonna take the rap for that." She sighs, sitting against the edge of the car, rubbing her forehead. "Maybe it's time me and Peitro talked about that car, y'know?" 

"Wanda--" Steve begins, but Wanda keeps going. 

"We needed a starting point, and this is it. This--" She slips, falling onto her butt. The car slowly rolls down from its mountings, down the sloped garage, and it hurtles out the large window into the shrubs below. 

Steve rushes to look out of the broken window, Bucky following behind. Wanda doesn't move. 

"is it bad?" She squeaks. 

"It's--" Bucky whistles low. "It's pretty bad." 

"It's worse than bad." Steve adds. 

"Wanda," Bucky says. "I will 100% take the heat for this--" 

Wanda gulps, and she shakes her head. "No. No, uh, it's okay. But you better not be here when he comes home from school, so..." 

Bucky steps forward, and tugs her into a tight hug. Wanda is still for a moment, and then she hugs him back. Steve leans up to kiss her cheek, the two of them disappearing out of the garage door. 

 

~*~ 

 

"Well, I had a lovely day." Steve grins, leaning against the railing on the porch. They're sitting outside of Steve's place, his mom's car in the drive. She was home early - it happened very rarely, but Bucky knew that Sarah wouldn't be mad. She'd probably think that Steve had just gone over to Bucky's for the afternoon. 

"Oh, well, I'm glad I could please his majesty." Bucky snickers, waggling his eyebrows. 

"Y'know," Steve says, reaching out to take Bucky's hand. "I'm not gonna just forget about you when I go to college. I don't want graduation to be the end of us." 

"Yeah?" Bucky asks softly. 

"Yeah." Steve murmurs. "I'm gonna find a way to make sure you're faithful when you go off fighting bad guys in a desert somewhere. Don't want you running off with some hot soldier." 

"And I don't want you running off with some beefy college football player." Bucky says, and he laughs. "I'll marry you if i have to." 

"Oh you're gonna marry me, huh?" Steve grins. 

"Absolutely." Bucky nods, leaning in to kiss Steve. As he pulls away he opens the front door, and he lets go of Bucky's hand. "Just call me 'Mr. Barnes' from now on, then." 

"It's got a ring to it!" Bucky grins, and as the front door clicks shut, he looks at his watch. 

5:58. Oh _shit_. 

 

~*~ 

 

Rebecca sighs as her mother continues to rant at her; she knows very well that she only insisted on Rebecca driving so that she could do just that, not because she had a call to make or papers to sort or Rebecca needed more experience, or whatever excuse she was trying to give. 

Something about being irresponsible, something about her needing to be more mature. Bucky's name was mentioned. Rebecca resists the urge to roll her eyes, and she keeps on driving. 

She has to slam on the breaks when some idiot jumps in front of the car, her mother looking down at the papers in her hand. Rebecca looks at the idiot, and her eyes widen, before they narrow again. Bucky looks back at her, wide eyed, and then he bolts. 

Rebecca slams her foot down on the accelerator, no matter what her mother screams at her. She's going to show her parents just how much of a little liar he is, once and for all. 

 

~*~ 

 

Bucky races over hedges and fences and through back yards, narrowly avoiding falling into pools, jumping over vicious looking dogs. 

He makes it to his own back yard before any of the cars manage to get there, and he races towards the back door--  

\--only to be thwarted by Principal Pierce, standing in front of it with a smirk.  

"I don't think so." he laughs lowly, humorlessly. "Ready for another year with yours truly? Because there's no way I'm letting your scrawny ass graduate, Barnes." 

Bucky doesn't know what to do. Or what to say. Principal Pierce moves down into the yard - is he missing a shoe? Bucky tries to focus, not moving. 

"You're coming with me." Pierce growls. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the back door open, and Rebecca come running out, something in her hand. She throws her arms around Bucky, and kisses his cheek. "Oh, you're home! We were so worried! We went to pick you up but they said you'd already left." 

She pulls back, her arm around her big brother, and she gives Pierce a big smile. God, Bucky thinks. She deserves a fucking Oscar. 

"Can you believe it? He wanted to bring himself home from the hospital! Didn't want to be a burden." She lays a hand on Bucky's chest, and smiles up at him. "he's such an inspiration." 

She then grabs the thing that she had slipped into her pocket, and throws it into Pierce's face. "And the dog picked that up off the kitchen floor." She says, eyebrows arching. 

Bucky doesn't know what that's about, but he allows himself to be led back inside the house, promising Becca that he owes her big. 

 

~*~ 

 

Well, that went in the opposite way that he expected. 

Pierce trudges along the side of the road, sans one shoe, his wallet in hand. He's covered in mud, he's got bite marks on his leg, and he smells like stale sweat. 

Someone whistles as they drive past, and Pierce turns to see Rumlow, having slowed to a snail's pace. 

"Wow." Rumlow comments. "You look like shit." 

"Well observed." Pierce grumbles. 

"Want a lift?" Brock asks, rolling the car to a stop. Pierce considers saying no, but he really doesn't want to have to walk the next sixteen blocks like this, so he gets in. Rumlow grimaces a the smell. "Gonna tell me what happened?" He asks, as he pulls away. 

"Nope." Pierce says. "And we are never, ever going to speak of this, _ever_ again. Understood?" 

"You're the boss." Rumlow mumbles, his gaze directed out the window. 

 

~*~ 

 

Bucky races upstairs. He has time to kick off his shoes and his jacket and jump under the covers. His parents, when they come in just seconds later, are oblivious. Rebecca rolls her eyes at him, but she doesn't say a word. Now Bucky owes her even more. 

When his parents disappear, Bucky stretches out. Today's been a good day. Wanda grew up a little, Steve promised not to leave him behind. All three of them had a good day, no matter what Wanda wanted to whine about. 

Yeah. That was a day well spent. Much better than being in  class. 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments, prompts and questions are welcome here or over at [my tumblr](http://achaiion.tumblr.com)


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